Friday, July 31, 2015

I
was 19-years-old and living in Southern California when the
Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill occurred. I barely remember it happening. I
was a young adult, busy with college, working, a boyfriend (or two),
etc. I wasn’t watching the news much. I mean, what teenager does,
really? Ten years later there was a huge retrospective about it,
though, and I was fully an adult by then. The 10-year anniversary of
the spill was all over the radio and TV. Slowly the story worked
itself into my imagination, the same way the droplets of oil coated
the ocean floor from Alaska to Northern California, and the premise
of a novel was born: What
if mermaids were caught in an oil spill?

I
began writing Cry
of the Sea
back then. It took many years and several major rewrites to get it to
be a strong enough story to be picked up by a publisher. Over those
years I did a lot of research about oil spills – the damage they
cause, laws regarding oil tankers, how animals are treated during
rescues. I wanted to be accurate about these things even though my
book was a fantasy. The reason was because my novel wasn’t meant to
be a Little
Mermaid
type of romantic fantasy. It was meant to be more of an
X-Files-what-if-mermaids-were-real
science fiction.

The
young adults of 2015 have grown up learning about the 2010 oil spill
in the Gulf of Mexico. There was a spill just this year off the coast
of Santa Barbara. I believe that teens are much more aware of these
environmental issues than we were in the 1980s. I think they watch
the news more – or at least get their headlines from the internet.
I’m impressed at the intelligence and willingness of teens to want
to help do their part to keep oceans clean of litter and pollution.

Cry
of the Sea
has a major environmental theme. Juniper Sawfeather’s parents are
environmental activists and have been raising her to follow in their
footsteps. When the mermaids are discovered during an oil spill, she
is in the center of the turmoil between her parents, the media, kids
from school, a marine biologist and his intern, and the oil company
itself over the fate of the mermaids.

In
June, 2015 Cry
of the Sea
won 2nd
place in the YA category of the Green Book Festival contest for
environmentally themed books. Reviewers are raving about the
environmental angle of the book. “It
was an eye-opening read, at times really shocking and heart-breaking,
and definitely one I won't soon forget. This
is a great, mold-breaking YA for those who want more from their books
than just silly romance stories and sparkling mythical creatures.
It's a story of bravery,
dedication, protecting all those things that are unable to protect
themselves, and making a difference,”
wrote Evie Seo of Bookish
Blog. “As
expected, this book has a strong message about environmentalism, but
I'm impressed that the author was able to convey it without sounding
preachy in the slightest. You're not going to get a sermon but you
will see enough of the damage caused by oil spoils to be horrified by
it. To be honest, I'm barely interested in the subject, but I went
through a whole range of emotions and I cared about what was
happening,” from Rachel Poole, Cullen
House Reviews.

Cry
of the Sea
is the first of a 3-part series. The sequel, Whisper
of the Woods
(which will center around the destruction of Old Growth trees) is
scheduled for release from Fire and Ice Young Adult Books in
November. Follow me to get updates www.facebook.com/donnagdriver

Book blurb

Juniper Sawfeather is choosing
which college to attend after graduation from West Olympia High School next
year. She wants to go to San Diego to be far away from her environmental
activist parents. They expect her to think the way they do, but having to be
constantly fighting causes makes it difficult to be an average 17 year old high
school student. Why do her parents have to be so out there?

Everything changes when she and
her father rush to the beach after a reported oil spill. As they document the
damage, June discovers three humans washed up on the beach, struggling to breathe
through the oil coating their skin. At first she thinks they must be surfers,
but as she gets closer, she realizes these aren't human at all. They're
mermaids! Now begins a complex story of intrigue, conspiracy and manipulation
as June, her parents, a marine biologist and his handsome young intern, her
best friend, the popular clique at school and the oil company fight over the
fate of the mermaids.